How much should you mow?

[littlebittybobby]

Okay---like it says.

[rosarugosa]

We only have a very small area devoted to lawn at this point because we've converted most of our yard into garden beds. My husband mows every 2 weeks or so. It's better to keep the grass on the long side, especially in the hot weather, and then there is also more clover for the bunnies to eat.

[Tybee]

I have been mowing the yard about once a week and the field about every 2-3 depending on the rain. I am trying to encourage the yard and I think mowing short has helped. There was no yard there when I started, just brambles and tiger lilies.

[catherine]

We try to keep up with our neighbors who are super-vigilant about their lawns. They cut them shorter than they should (beliow the 3-inch "raise the blade" rule) and I can set my calendar by one of my neighbor's weekly schedules.

Part of our problem is that we had very old and unreliable mowers: a push one for the smaller areas and a riding mower for the big lawn--a task we kind of share with the neighborhood--we take turns when we can.

I got so sick of our lawn looking terrible, especially the day after our adjacent neighbor does his lawn, that I asked DH if we could get a new electric mower, which we did. I couldn't even start the old gas one, so I had no options before. But now I can mow if DH is busy. We are still definitely not in the regular 1/week camp, though. I would say it's more like once every other week.

One good thing is, as fussy as my neighbors are about their lawns, I don't believe any of them use herbicides or pesticides, so I haven't heard any complaints about my dandelions and clover!

[iris lilies]

The only correct answer to this non-question is:


You should mow frequently, practically all the time. Mowing should be the center of your life.

Thank meeeee.

[littlebittybobby]

okay----i have taken your responses, included them in my files of case histories. hopefully, some others will come forward with their story about mowing. but yeah---i will be doing a writeup about some extreme cases i've encountered, right here in the immediate vicinity of my hillbilly shackk. thankk mee.

[pinkytoe]

Probably twice a summer since we got rid of the K Bluegrass. I have the kind of old men retired neighbors who fawn over the state of their lawns. Water, water, mow, mow.

[Alan]

I mow a lot. I've always believed that lots of men consider the state of their lawn the same way others may consider the state of their home's interior. I guess I'm one of those old retired men who think if it doesn't appear neat, orderly and well maintained, its time to mow.

[Rogar]

I probably average about every week and a half, depending on the season. There are a lot of well cared for lawns in the neighborhood and I try to keep up with things without getting too obsessive. There are a lot of elderly in my area and the majority of my neighbors use a lawn service that goes through the hood once a week.

[Tybee]

I like my yard areas to look neat and orderly, like Alan. There are so many woods where we live that carving a lawn so we could sit out with the dogs in peace felt like a great accomplishment. It has taken three years of mowing to get those areas to look like a lawn and we like to sit out there or garden out there. I realized that for over 50 years I have been the designated lawn mower in my various families. My dad was a Marine, so his surroundings were kept orderly, and I think I took that on from him. Overgrown lawns bug me and I find myself mentally mowing when I see them.
Maybe I'm just OCD, I don't know.